Affordable housing advocates hope that the City of Vancouver�s new task force on affordable housing is a genuine attempt by Mayor Gregor Robertson to make living in Vancouver more viable and not simply political posturing.
Peter Simpson, task force member and Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association CEO, told Business in Vancouver that he has seen too many reports gather dust after being drafted by well-meaning affordable housing committees.
The unpaid task force members are expected to produce an interim report by March 12, and Simpson believes this is evidence that tangible work will be done, and soon.
�I expect the committee will make quick and pragmatic recommendations for council to take action on this year,� Robertson told Business in Vancouver February 8, the day after he held an initial meeting with the task force.
�We have a very experienced and creative brain trust to propose next steps that will make a dent in the affordability crunch.�
Geller Group president Michael Geller will head a working group to produce even more practical ideas to reduce Vancouver housing costs – something clearly needed given that research organization Demographia last month ranked Vancouver as having the second least affordable housing in the English-speaking world, after Hong Kong, as a multiple of the average income to the average home price.
Geller already has several ideas.
One involves changing density regulations in city multi-family zones so that a development�s street-level parking is no longer factored in as a part of its allowable floor space.
�The result is that virtually all the developers put parking underground,� Geller said, �and that adds significantly to the cost.�
He also wants Vancouver to follow Coquitlam�s lead and allow townhouses to be individually owned instead of requiring all row houses to be part of a strata council.
Geller pointed out that Vancouver�s legal department has concerns about the legality of agreements covering shared walls in multi-family complexes even though other municipalities� legal departments have no such concerns.
�The advantage of having an individually owned unit is that you can cut your own grass and do your own gardening. You don�t have to pay someone else to do it as is the case with strata councils. You don�t have to pay strata fees. That�s a big saving.�
Geller added that townhomes in Vancouver should be allowed to have secondary suites, which would help homeowners pay down their mortgages.
He also wants to densify single-family neighbourhoods by building on the laneway home initiative that Robertson spearheaded in his first term.
�Many of us grew up in homes that were 1,000 square feet with one bathroom because that�s all people could afford,� he said. �We need to liberalize regulations so people can split properties into two. The result will be smaller lots.�
Robertson called Geller�s ideas �compelling.�
He said his goal is not simply to have a laundry list of ideas. Instead, he wants to prioritize some key concepts that can be enacted quickly and deliver the biggest impact.��
Meet Vancouver�s new affordable housing task force
Members of the affordable housing task force that Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced February 6 include:
�Alan Boniface (principal, DIALOG; chair, Urban Land Institute BC);
�Nathan Edelson (senior partner, 42 Street Consulting);
�Leonard George (director, economic development, Tsleil-Waututh Nation);
�Marg Gordon (CEO, BC Apartment Owners & Managers Association);
�Mark Guslits (architect and principal, Mark Guslits & Associates Inc.);
�Colleen Hardwick (founder and CEO, New City Ventures);
�Howard Johnson (CEO, Baptist Housing);
�Kenneth Kwan (chairman, building committee, S.U.C.C.E.S.S.);
�Michael Lewis (executive director, Canadian Centre for Community Renewal);
�Eric Martin (vice-president, Bosa Development Corp.);
�Karen O�Shannacery (executive director, Lookout Society);
�Al Poettcker (president and CEO, UBC Properties Trust);
�Peter Simpson (president and CEO, Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association); and
�Bradford Tone (president, Tone Management)�
